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Following a season in which they won the SEC championship and came painfully close to a national title, Kirby Smart and Georgia are looking to produce similar results in 2018. Their first real opportunity to prove they have the talent to do so will come on Saturday at Sanford Stadium, as the Bulldogs compete in the annual G-Day spring game.
The game is scheduled to start at about 4 p.m. ET and will be broadcast nationally on ESPN. If you don’t have cable or can’t get to a TV, you can still watch the game live on your computer, phone or streaming device by signing up for one of the following cable-free, live-TV streaming services:
Hulu With Live TV: In addition to a Netflix-like on-demand streaming library, Hulu now also offers a bundle of live TV channels, including ESPN. You can sign up for “Hulu with Live TV” right here, and you can then watch a live stream of the game on your computer via the Hulu website, or on your phone, tablet or streaming device via the Hulu app.
DirecTV Now: ESPN is included in all four of DirecTV Now’s main channel packages. You can sign up for a free 7-day trial no matter what package you choose, and you can then watch the game live on your computer via the DirecTV Now website, or on your phone, tablet or streaming device via the DirecTV Now app.
Preview
All eyes during Saturday’s exhibition will be on the quarterbacks–not because there’s necessarily any controversy about who will be starting this year, but because of the talent involved.
Lining up under center for the Red team will be Jake Fromm, who completed 62.2 percent of his throws for 2,615 yards, 24 touchdowns and seven interceptions to lead the Bulldogs to the season’s final game last year. He showed unprecedented poise as a true freshman, and fans will be eager to see how he’s improved during the offseason.
And starting for the Black team will be one of the most talented incoming recruits in the country in Justin Fields, who ranked second in the nation overall and first among dual-threat quarterbacks in the class of 2018. On a day full of big spring games, his debut is undoubtedly one of the most anticipated around the nation.
Fields has already impressed during Spring, but Kirby Smart believes that has been a good thing for Fromm.
“Without Justin here, there’s times (Fromm) may relax and he can’t do that,” said the Georgia head coach. “You can’t do that in any profession. There’s always someone trying to take a step up and move up that ladder. I think both those guys have done it really well, doing a good job of understanding the offense.”
While the Bulldogs look to have an embarrassment of riches at the quarterback position, they’ll have to reload elsewhere on the field, most notably at running back, where Nick Chubb and Sony Michel’s departures leave a whopping 2,698 yards from scrimmage to be replaced, and at linebacker, where there is an SEC Defensive Player of the Year Roquan Smith-shaped hole in the middle of the defense.
In terms of how Smart and Co. plan on replacing those stars, we’ll get glimpses rather than full answers on Saturday, but football is back nonetheless, and Georgia’s spring game is about as compelling as these exhibitions get.